Rosalynn Carter Dies at 96

 

Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who had dementia, died today at the age of 96. She and former President Jimmy Carter were married in 1946 and were the longest married presidential couple. They were indeed a team as they campaigned together, strategized together, and shared his presidency. She took her role on as a First Lady seriously, walking from her residence to her office with a briefcase of projects. Although criticized for doing so, she frequently attended Cabinet meetings, where she sometimes picked upon subtleties missed by her more trusting husband. She was fiercely loyal and her husband's friend and companion for over 70 years.

Sometimes people today forget that Carter was an underdog in his presidential campaign; some people laughed at the idea of a Southern peanut farmer, even though he was an elected governor of Georgia, running for that high office. Rosalyn made over 40 campaign stops on his behalf during that improbable, but ultimately successful, quest for office. His race was close against Gerald Ford as he won with 51% of the vote to Ford's 48% and gathered 297 Electoral College votes.

Once her husband was in office, Rosalyn took on mental health issues and advocated for insurance coverage of mental health diagnoses, which at that time were often minimal or excluded. Mental health care in was abysmal in many state institutions, and better care in private hospitals was often only for the wealthy. She served as an unofficial member of the Presidents Commission on Mental Health and lobbied for the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980, which was eventually shelved by his successor, Reagan. Even after they left office, she continued her advocacy, working to de-stigmatize mental health issues so patients would free it safe to seek treatment. As she aged herself, she became an advocate for those who had dementia or Alzheimer’s. She wrote a book in 2010, Within Our Reach, Ending the Mental Health Crisis. (Over her long career, she wrote and published over 25 books.) In this book she described a failed mental health system with many of the same failures she had noted when attending hearings back in the late 1970s. And, although acknowledging that improvements with medications and other treatments have happened, there is much work still to be done. Around that time, I was lucky enough to attend a speech she made about the findings in this book. She was quiet, forceful, and precise in the ideas she presented. Rosalynn wanted to demand action, but she was not one to stamp her foot or pound the podium on stage. She quietly asserted what she knew should be done. A few short years later, she celebrated some small victories with several mental health changes included in the ACA or Obamacare legislation.

She was a quiet southern style feminist, but had a steel core to her person. She worked tirelessly for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, but that option failed to gather enough state votes to pass.

They credit her with the suggestion to President Carter that he invite Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt to Camp David, where they eventually signed a Peace Treaty in 1978.

After their election loss in a landslide by Ronald Reagan, the Carters reinvented their role in life, as builders for Habitat for Humanity, election watchers, and health campaigns against Guinea Worm in Africa, to mention only a few. They also established the Carter Center, whose mission is stated as a Non-governmental Organization (NGO that helps to improve lives by resolving conflicts, advancing democracy, and preventing diseases.

Tributes have been pouring in all day to celebrate the life of Rosalynn Carter. I can only agree with all of them as they celebrate a woman of quiet resolve and service to her country, her husband, and the world.

Thanks, Rosalynn.

“Til next week – Peace!